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alverman Member
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hi all, al here new to the jensen healey circle. i learned to drive in an austin healey bug eyed sprite, on a road course with my sisters first husband, they were into racing in the mid '60's and i was 15...oh how much fun i had. but life got in my way soon after and i put my dream of a sport car on hold...then pretty much forgot about it except for flashes of memory from time to time. always thinking that this kind of car was A: impractical for a family man. B: too expensive. C: i had grown too large to fit. my dear wife passed away last oct. and i have been looking for something to raise my spirits and just recently ran across a j-h in an add on the internet, the price was unbelievably low...must sell etc. so i went to look, fell in love, and i actually fit ! i made a quick deal and brought home my prize friday evening july 28. sat. morning i was taking care of legal stuff and on the way home it burst into flames, creating a lot of black smoke and visions of financial ruin. the fire was quickly extinguished by a nearby police officer and it was not a total cinder but the carbs, batt, and all else in that area looks like a marshmallow at a campout. my dream has been put on hold untill insurance decides what to do. and i sit here with a smelly, yellow unuseable toy. i joined this society because in the short time between joy and sorrow a latent love of the british sport car has been rekindled and i want to be a part of its family. hope i will fit in al verman |
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jcdean Member
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Welcome Al, Sorry that flames got the better of you, yet happy a fire extinguisher was close by when most needed. It looks like you have fallen victim to the infamous "plastic fuel line T". Not one of the better engineered parts on the car. The good news is you have came to the right place to get any and all things J-H oriented and I am sure that you will be back on the road in no time at all. I am also very confident that you will fit in just fine. They haven't asked me to leave yet, so hope bounds anew. Once again, welcome to the forums. Joey |
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George Member
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Oh dear, quite an intro to our wonderful cars. Plenty of info on this site, however, to help you out. Just ask. Welcome. Where are you located? |
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alverman Member
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hey y'all i feel welcome already...i live at the gateway to the ozarks, in beautiful humid missouri. not many sport car buffs here altho one gal at the bank said an old boyfriend had one once. as soon as i find out how well the insurance co. does with it's research, i'll either be looking for another or finding a shop who can actually work on this one. i have waited too long for this and i'm not letting this chance slip by. al |
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jcrc1 Member 
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Hi Al, Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but there is some hope here. There are an awful lot of knowledgeable people on this forum (I am NOT one of them), who can give you all the advice you could possibly want on saving your car. In fact, I looked at a 73 JH up here in the northeast which was stored in the back yard of an apartment building which had the same fire incident with the stromberg carbs which you had. It wasn't as bad as it seemed. The manifold and carbs needed replacing along with some with some wiring/battery/filters. Well, the things almost up and running......but now needs extensive bodywork and paint. So, there are always other cars in worse shape..... in fact check out mine.... from Maine...in the JHP Photo gallery on this site.... if you want to see a hopeless case. Good luck Al and welcome!!! Cheers, John |
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edward_davis Member 
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Al, Why don't you send some pictures of the car to the list so we can see what shape it's in? It may be that you just have a beautiful excuse to go ahead and make the switch to Dellorto Carbs... I'm sure that many JH's have come back from the same experience and been better for it, in the end. Just make sure you buy one of those metal T's when you put it all back together. I always carry a fire extinguisher in both of my cars (dependable Saturn as well as JH), not only for my own protection, but so I can help out if I ever see anyone else in trouble. I'm glad the police were there for you. I'm sure we'll all be interested to hear how it turns out with your JH, and I hope it turns out well. Edward |
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Todd Overton Member
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As others have said Al, welcome. Sorry to hear of your plight, but glad you are hanging in there and sticking with your dream. The group of folks on this forum are awesome - I've quickly found them to be supportive, very helpful and absolutely overflowing with knowledge. Whatever questions you may have, I'm sure you'll find someone out there who can help. Best of luck and keep us posted if you would on your progress. - Todd |
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Gary Martin JH 15371 Member
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Welcome Al, I bought my 74 JH back in 1986 from a salvage sale after it had the infamous carb fire from the plastic gas T. The car sat for 18 years before I started to restore it. Mine was probably a bit worse than yours sounds. All hoses, wiring, timing belt, battery, alternator, starter solinoid, were toast, and even melted items on the drivers side like the tank on the master cylinder. Never the less I got her running again. Start by documenting as much as you can, take notes and pictures of every thing. Remove all damaged items and clean up best as possible. If timing belt is damaged, replace this first. Do not attempt to turn over the engine with a bad timing belt or you risk bending the valves. After replacing the timing belt and it is timed correctly, see if engine will turn by hand. If not, you will likely find that the auxilary shaft driving the oil pump/distributor is frozen. There is a 0.004" plastic gasket in the oil pump that will melt if the fire got too hot. The melted gasket freezes up the oil pump. Once the engine is turning free, start replacing gaskets, hoses, wiring, and other items as needed. There are before and after pictures of mine in the Picture Gallery under Oregon. Good luck, Gary Last edited on 08-12-2006 08:04 pm by Gary Martin JH 15371 |
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